Pilot or wheel-guard for street-cars



(No Model.)

(3-. H. BAHRS.

' PILOT OR WHEEL GUARD FOR STREET CARS.

No. 409,901. Patented Aug. 27, 1889.

N PETERS, Pholmbflwgn her, wimm mn. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE.

GEORGE H. BAHRS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

PILOT OR WHEEL-GUARD FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 409,901, dated August2'7, 1889.

Application filed April 24, 1889. Serial No. 308,486. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BAHRS, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Pilotsor lVheel-Guards for Street-Cars, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in wheel-guards for the front ofrailway-cars on endless-cable roads and other lines where thepropelling-power may be electricity or steamdummies or motor-ears ofdifferent kinds; and it consists in certain novel construction andcombination of parts, as hereinafter fully described, producing a safetydevice for attachment to the front of a streetcar where thepropelling-power is carried on the car, or is an endless traction-cableto which the car is connected by gripping apparatus in the usual manner.

The nature of my said improvements and the manner in which I construct,produce, and apply the same will be clearly understood from thefollowing description and the drawings that accompany and form part ofthis specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the front end of a cable-railway car ofthe kind in which the car and the dummy are one structure, with myinvention applied to the front end. Fig.2 is a front view of Fig. 1.Fig. 8 is a plan of the car-body and the safety-guard. Fig. 4 is aperspective view, on a larger scale, showing the parts in detail.

This improved guard consists, essentially, of two light skeleton framesattached by hinges at the outer edges to the dash-board or railingacross the front of the car in upright position and in such manner thatthey meet and close together at the inner edges directly in front,having movement on the hinges to close and open outward like a doublegate or wicket.

By means of suitable rods and levers the two hinged frames are connectedto a handlever on the car, which is placed in position within reach ofthe gripman or engineer, and is so arranged for-operation that itsmovement in one direction will throw the hinged frames outward and inthe opposite direction will close them across the front of the car.

A A are the two frames or gates, and I) 6 their points of attachmentalong the outer edges to the uprights B B on the car.

0 is the hand-lever, pivoted at D in bearings C on the car-body andworking through a slot in the floor. The pivot D is a rockshaft havingbearings in boxes C on the floor, and carrying on each end, beyond thebearing, a downwardly-extending arm E, to which is connected by a rod Gthe arm or lever F on the hinged frame A on that side of the car. Thetwo frames are connected in this manner to the arms of the rock-shaft.

The construct-i011 of these fenders will be clearly understood fromFigs. 1, 2, and 4 of the drawings. The flat bars or straps a a form alight open frame, 011 which wire-netting may be fixed to makesmallerinterstices, if desired, and the outside rods 13 set throughknuckles b I), screwed to the upright posts on the front of the car, inwhich the rods turn like the pintle of a hinge. The opening A isproduced by bending the outer bars-of the frames, as shown in Fig. 2,and is provided for the purpose of clearing the head-light where it islocated on the front of the car. Applied to a car or a dummy in thismanner the two hinged parts A A meet together at the middle and stand ata slight angle backward from this middle line out to the points ofattachment at b b. In this position they present angular surfaces ofsuitable height above the roadway, and at their lower edges run asclosely as is practicable to the surface. \Vhen an obstruction is met,or in case of a person falling in front of the car, the hinged fenders Aare opened and thrown out simultaneously and with a quick movement bymeans of the handlever, so that they stand at a more acute angle acrossthe track, and thereby deflect the obstacle laterally and clear of thecar to one side or the other.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pilot or wheel-guard for the front of a car, consisting of thehinged frames A A, attached at the outer edges to uprights B B on IOOthe car by hinges to open outwardly and to close together across thefront of the car, and an operating-lever C on the car, having suitableconnection with said frames to throw them outward and move them in theopposite direction or toward each other, as hereinbefore described, foroperation as set forth.

2. In a safety-pilot or wheel-guard for the front of a car or dummy, thecombination of IO hinged frames or wickets A A, attached by hinges atthe outer edges to open and close in opposite directions across thefront of the car, the hand-lever C, rock-shaft D, lever-arms E E F F,and connecting-rods G G, applied to operate as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand andseal.

GEORGE H. BAHRS. n s.]

